The Bobcats starting line featured three unfamiliar faces as the puck dropped for Ohio's weekend series against Eastern Michigan.
The trio of left wing Tom Ciaverilla, center Justin Althof and right wing Brandon Fackey combined for six points in the first period alone, helping the Bobcats to an early lead for the first time in 2007.
They jump-started us and each one of them scored a goal
coach Dan Morris said. That's the way they practiced all week and we rewarded them.
Ohio would not relinquish its early lead, notching five more goals to cruise to a 9-1 victory over the Eagles.
When we were up by four goals against Western Michigan (on Dec. 8) after the first period we ended up winning 7-3 and kind of letting up a little bit
Morris said. The players were ready to play and they got the job done.
Ciaverilla had four assists and one goal, and left wing Jeff Jepson scored two goals against his former team in the victory.
It felt good to help out my team
Jepson said. It does not matter if we win by one or we win by eight
as long as we get the victory and the two points.
Following the eight-goal victory on Friday night, Ohio found itself deadlocked with the Eagles on Saturday, tied at 1-1 following the first period.
The guys came out and responded in the second period and played good hockey
Morris said of his team's second-period spurt where they notched two goals.
The Bobcats controlled the puck, allowing only one shot on goal during the second period. Ohio added two more goals in the third period to secure the victory 5-1.
With the Bobcat's third-leading goal scorer Jim Fuhs training with team USA for the 2007 Winter World University Games, 10 different Bobcats scored goals during the weekend series.
Ohio's system of alternating starts between goaltenders Ryan Baksh and Chris Carlson proved effective as each player allowed only one goal in the victories.
I felt good and I just wanted to go out and have a solid performance
Baksh said. It's hard to stay focused when you are up that many goals
and our guys did a good job defensively.
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